Learning to Cope Without Arthur
by WeasleyObsession
Summary: Continuation to one-shot "Vows" by incess. The Weasleys have to learn to cope after Arthur dies saving Fred in the Battle of Hogwarts. It will end up being a few chapters long. This is my first ever fanfic so please read and review and give me tips.
1. Realization

Author's Notes: This is in response to "Vows" written by .princess. I thought it would be easier to continue a story someone has already written since this is my first fanfic ever. Y'all should read "Vows" before this one otherwise you might be lost. This first part in italics is from the last part of "Vows". There will be at least a few chapters. Enjoy and let me know how I did with my first fanfic!

Learning To Cope Without Arthur

 _He looked at Molly one last time, and mouthed an apology. And before she could react, he had pushed Fred out of the way._

 _As the stones came down upon him, he allowed himself one last smile._

 _If it meant his own son would live, it was worth it._

ooOoo

Molly, Fred, and George couldn't believe what just happened. Their husband and father was just buried alive by rubble. None of them could afford to be distracted or the Death Eater would kill them too. The three of them immediately hexed the Death Eater. He went down.

When Molly, Fred, and George checked to make sure the Death Eater was dead and no others were near, they ran back to the pile of rubble. "Help me move these rocks," Molly commanded Fred and George. "Yes, Mum," they replied in unison. With the help of magic, they had Arthur uncovered in a matter of seconds. By this time, Percy saw that his father was lying, lifeless, on the ground and ran over. They feared the worst as Molly, holding her breath, rolled him onto his back.

To their relief, and surprise, Arthur wasn't dead… but he was barely alive. "A-Arthur?" Molly said in barely a whisper. In a voice only Molly could hear and with his last breath Arthur said, "I vowed to protect our children no matter what." With one last gasping breath it was over. Molly's body began to shake violently as she wept over her dead husband's body. Fred, George, and Percy went over to their mother and the four of them held each other in a tight embrace with tears streaming down their faces as what just happened started to sink in.

Luckily, during all this, the battle had started to die down and no Death Eaters were around to attack them. After several minutes, the four of them got a hold of themselves; Percy conjured a stretcher. Fred and George lifted Arthur onto the stretcher and they took him to the Great Hall where all the other fatalities were. On their way there, they ran into Bill and Charlie and explained what had happened.

The battle had stopped and people started coming into the Great Hall to see Madam Pomfery about their injuries and to see who all didn't make it. The Weasleys, except Ron and Ginny, settled themselves in a corner of the hall so as not to be bothered.

ooOoo

Half an hour later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny entered the Great Hall. (They had just come from the Shrieking Shack where they had witnessed Nagini kill Snape). They looked around for the rest of the Weasleys and finally spotted them in the far right corner. Molly and her five oldest children were crouched around something; the four of them couldn't make out what it was. As they got closer, they could tell someone was missing, but none of them had imagined the worst.

Ginny hesitated then said, "Mum?" Molly stood up and looked at her only daughter. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny could tell something was horribly wrong.

Ron asked timidly, "W-where's Dad?" They were hoping she'd say Arthur had gone to speak with Kingsley or someone else. They knew she wouldn't.

Molly didn't say anything. She just stared at them with red, puffy eyes. The rest of the Weasleys stood up and looked at them.

"Where's Dad?" he asked again, this time more firmly.

Neither Molly nor any of her oldest sons could say anything. After another moment had passed, Molly shook her head and they all backed up so Ron and Ginny could see their father lying on a stretcher, lifeless. The two youngest Weasley children stood there, horror struck, before attempting to move or speak. Harry and Hermione stood there holding back tears of their own.

They finally walked over and knelt on either side of their father. Ginny started visibly shaking as she began to sob while Ron just sat there staring at his father, a pained expression on his face and his eyes glassy. All Molly could do was stand there and watch as her last two children came to the rough realization that their father was dead.

As he looked up at his mother, Ron choked out, "W-w-what happened to – to Dad?"

Molly had a huge lump in her throat. She couldn't do this. Not now. Not again. She'd already had to explain it once, to Bill and Charlie; she didn't want to have to explain it again. She couldn't tell her two youngest children that their father was - _dead_.

She realized Ron was waiting for an answer. She cleared her throat. Molly took a deep breath and said, in a strained voice, "Your – your father was killed about forty-five minutes ago." Her son and daughter looked at her pleadingly with tear-filled eyes. They knew he was killed. She had only told them the obvious. They wanted to know how it happened. "A Death Eater shot the ceiling above him with a spell and – and your father. He was buried under a pile of rubble." They didn't have to know he was barely alive once they uncovered him. Not yet anyway.

"Who was it?" Ron said angrily, "Who was the Death Eater?"

By now she had tears streaming down her face again. Fred turned her around and held her in a tight embrace while her tears started to dampen his shoulder.

"We don't know," George was speaking now, "Whoever it was, the three of us killed him." He jerked his head toward his mother and Fred. Ron nodded.

After giving them some time, Harry and Hermione went over to their significant other to comfort them. Ron shrugged Hermione's hand off of his arm; he didn't want this. He knew if someone touched him he'd fall apart.

Ginny, on the other hand, immediately buried her face in Harry's shoulder as he held her close. Tears started falling down his own face. The girl he loved was in pain and the only real father figure he had in his life had just died.


	2. Back Home?

A/N: Sorry it's been a few days since I've updated. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Also, I don't own Harry Potter or its characters. Enjoy and please review.

ooOoo

A couple days later the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione arrived back at the Burrow. The place they had called home for so many years didn't feel like home anymore. Even though ten people were in the house, it was quiet and it felt empty. No one really talked for the first two days they were back. The silence was only broken by suppressed sobs ever so often.

Molly was able to get everyone around the dinner table the second night they were home. Hermione and Ginny had helped Molly with dinner. Though no one had an appetite, they still tried to eat something.

There was no conversation during dinner and no one made eye contact. The only sound was silverware clinking against plates. Molly finally brought up the topic no one was ready to discuss.

She cleared her throat and everyone looked up at her. "The funeral is tomorrow," she said quietly, "People will start arriving around noon, so I'll need some help cleaning up downstairs tonight."

Everyone nodded in response and looked back down at their plates.

Another moment passed and Molly continued, "If any of you have anything special you would like to say or do tomorrow, you'll need to get it ready tonight."

Even though no one responded Molly knew they heard her. She looked down at her plate and noticed she'd barely eaten anything. She didn't have much of an appetite to begin with and definitely didn't have one now, so she just pushed her food around with her fork.

After several more minutes, Fred started to push his chair away from the table. He froze when he looked up. His eyes met the one object in the house that everyone was trying to avoid looking at. He gulped and said, "Mum. Look."

Hearing his voice tremble, everyone looked up at him. When they saw the horrified expression on his face, they slowly followed his gaze to see what he was seeing – the grandfather clock.

No one moved or said anything for several minutes. They all noticed the same thing. One of the hands was missing – the hand with Arthur's picture. This was the reason they had all been avoiding the clock.

Bill, who was closest to the clock, finally looked down at its base. What he saw was a hand face down on the floor. He leaned over, picked it up, and turned it over. The hand had fallen off of the clock.

Bill's shaky voice broke the silence. "Mum, what do you want to do with it?"

"Just – just give it here, son." Molly reached out and took it with trembling hands as Bill handed it to her. After looking at Arthur's picture she ran out of the kitchen. No one followed her, but over the next few minutes, one by one, people left the kitchen to go outside or to their rooms.

It was a bad idea to have dinner at the table so soon.

ooOoo

None of the Weasleys were able to sleep well since their father's death. Tonight they weren't able to sleep at all. Everyone was thinking about the funeral that was to take place the next day.

"What time is it," George asked Fred.

"Three-fifteen," Fred responded, yawning, "Do you want to go downstairs?"

George sighed. "Yeah, sure. We're not gonna sleep tonight anyway."

They got out of their beds and made their way quietly downstairs. They came to a stop outside of Molly's bedroom. They had expected the house to be quiet since it was so late at night. It shocked them when they heard noises coming from Molly's bedroom. After listening closely for a minute, they could tell what the noises were. Their mother was crying. They hesitated for a moment, then decided it best to leave her alone.

To their surprise Bill, Ron, and Harry were already in the kitchen.

"Can't sleep either?" Bill asked.

"No," the twins said in unison as they sat down at the table.

George thought about mentioning what they heard from Molly's room, but decided not to. The five boys sat in silence until Ginny came down a few minutes later. She couldn't sleep either and was clearly upset.

"What's wrong, Gin," Ron asked.

"It's just, well, when I walked past Mum's room…" Ginny started.

"Yeah, we heard that," Fred said.

Bill, Ron, and Harry asked, "Heard what?"

George took a deep breath. "Mum's crying."

The other three nodded.

"Oh. I didn't hear anything when I went by," Bill said.

"Same," said Ron.

Ginny asked, "Should we do anything?"

Bill shook his head. "Let's just let her be alone for a while."

Not even a second after he said that, Molly walked in the kitchen. Everyone looked up at her. She wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes were red and puffy. "Let who be alone?"

Everyone immediately looked away and no one said anything.

"Oh. You heard me, huh?"

Her kids and Harry nodded their heads.

"Well, I'm fine now. I take it none of you could sleep either. Are Percy, Charlie, and Hermione asleep?"

Ginny replied, "Hermione is. Well, sort of. She couldn't sleep, so she buried her nose in a book. When I came down I noticed she had dozed off."

"Now thinking about it, I don't know where Percy and Charlie are," Ron said, "Their doors were open and they weren't in their rooms. I thought they were down here."

"Well, they're not outside," said Bill, who was now standing up and looking out the window.

ooOoo

In the meantime, Charlie made his way to the roof to stargaze and be by himself. When he got up there, he wasn't by himself. Percy was already there.

"Mind if I join you, Perc?"

Percy didn't say anything. He was preoccupied with his thoughts and didn't hear Charlie.

"Percy?"

"Oh, hey," Percy said in a somewhat distant voice.

"You alright?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I came up here to think."

"Same. I heard people talking downstairs, so I came up here instead. But I'll leave you alone if you'd like."

As Charlie turned to leave, Percy stopped him. "No, stay."

Charlie turned back around and sat next to his brother. After a few moments, Percy broke the silence.

"I feel guilty."

"About what," Charlie asked.

"Dad," Percy replied, staring at the sky.

"Why? It's not like you're the reason he's – well, you know."

"I know. It's just, the last two years and everything I said to him and Mum before that. I-I wasted all that time because I was being a git," Percy's voice began to rise.

Charlie snorted. "Well, there's no denying you being a git." In a more serious tone, he continued, "Look, that may have all happened, but you saw how happy Dad was when you came back, even if it was at the last minute. You don't need to feel guilty about anything. You apologized and we all accepted it. That's all that matters."

The two brothers sat in silence staring up at the stars for the rest of the night. They didn't go inside until sunrise.


	3. The Funeral

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review more. Also, sorry it took over a week to post this, I had a couple exams I had to study for. The next chapter will be up quicker. Enjoy!

ooOoo

Everyone was still in the kitchen at sunrise – about 5:30 a.m. (Hermione had joined them an hour prior). They had conversed about random topics, trying to distract themselves from previous events and what was to come – Arthur's death and the funeral. They had been admiring the sunrise when Percy and Charlie entered the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at the kitchen door.

"Where have you two been? You had me worried. No one knew where either of you were."

Charlie and Percy stopped in their tracks, surprised by their mother's sudden outburst.

"Sorry. We were on the roof," said Percy.

"You didn't wake everyone to look for us, did you," asked Charlie, somewhat jokingly.

"No, she didn't. None of us could sleep either," Ginny said. "She wasn't even all that worried."

"Yes, I was, Ginerva," Molly snapped at Ginny. "Why were you on the roof?"

"I was up there when Charlie came. We were just thinking and looking at the stars."

"Yeah. We both wanted to be by ourselves and we both heard people talking down here. I guess we had the same idea."

"Oh. Alright then," Molly said, a little more relaxed. "Well, I know it's early, but I'm quite hungry. Does anyone want any breakfast?"

Everyone mumbled in agreement. That was the first time in days anyone had much of an appetite.

Several minutes later, Molly had pancakes and bacon on the table and everyone was enjoying a nice, filling meal. The sense of normality that everyone had felt over the previous couple of hours ended before breakfast did.

"I'm going to need help cleaning this morning since we didn't get to it last night," Molly said, silence fell over the room almost immediately. "We still have six hours before anyone will be here, but the house and yard still need cleaning and everyone still needs to shower and get ready. People will be here before you know it."

The kids nodded and said, "Yes, Mum," and, "Yes, Mrs. Weasley," then returned to finish their breakfast in silence, though no one ate much more.

Everyone hated to face reality again. Molly hated to be the one to make her children face reality.

Soon everyone finished breakfast and started their chores.

ooOoo

Noon came sooner than anyone had expected…or wanted. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione had finished their chores and gotten cleaned up and dressed. No one was mentally or emotionally ready to endure the next couple of hours.

It was a warm, cloudy day. The casket and chairs were set up under an oak tree sitting on top of a hill on the Weasley's property a short distance from the house.

Molly quietly left the house and slowly made her way up the hill to the casket. She didn't want anyone to come with her. She wanted a few minutes alone with Arthur before people started to arrive.

She stopped a few feet away from the casket and looked back to the house. No one had noticed she left or if they had they realized she wanted to be alone. Molly turned back to the casket. She wasn't ready to see her husband's body lying in a casket.

 _I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to see him. Not like this,_ she thought. _But people will be here soon, so I can't wait any longer._

Hesitantly, she made her way closer to the casket. As she got closer, she could see Arthur inside it. Before she knew it, she was right beside it.

Her breathing became shaky and silent tears began to stream down her face as she looked down at her husband. Molly leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips. They were cold and stiff. She reached into the casket and began rubbing the back of her husband's hand. It was cold and stiff too.

"Oh, Arthur," Molly whispered. "I love you. I always have and I always will," her voice broke. Her shoulders started trembling, and she began weeping.

The rest of the family, along with Harry and Hermione, were quietly making their way up the hill. They stopped at the back row of chairs when they heard Molly start to speak. She wasn't talking to them though.

"Damn it, Arthur. We were supposed to grow old together and meet our grandchildren – _together_ ," she choked out _._ "I'm not supposed to be alone. I'm not supposed to do this by myself," she was yelling now. "Why did you have to do this? Why did you do this to me, Arthur? You were my other half! What am I supposed to do without you? You could have saved him some other way. We're not supposed to be having a funeral now – not for you! _This isn't fair!"_ She fell silent and began to sob again.

Her children tentatively moved closer to their mother. She jumped and looked back when she felt arms around her. She turned around and buried her face in Bill's chest as the others surrounded her and held her in a tight embrace.

ooOoo

Everyone was huddled together mourning the loss of their husband, father, and father-figure when they heard two loud cracks in the distance. Friends and family had started arriving for the funeral.

They quickly released each other and wiped their faces on their hands and sleeves. Guests approached them to give their condolences then went to find a seat.

After several minutes of shaking hands and holding back tears, the service began. It was a short service as people had a short time before having to attend other funerals caused by the war.

Molly, for one, was glad that it was a short service. She was tired of holding back tears in front of everyone.

The guests had left and the casket was buried in the ground. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione stood in silence, staring at the fresh dirt.

Fred spoke up. "It's my fault."

"What do you mean, dear," his mother asked.

"It's my fault he's de – he's gone."

"Don't say that. That's nonsense."

"I wasn't paying attention so he pushed me out of the way. You said it yourself, Mum. He pushed me out of the way. He could've done it another way, but he didn't. He saved me and now he's gone."

"When did I say that?"

"Before the funeral. I should be the one in the ground, not him. Just face it. _Dad's dead because of me!_ " Fed turned around and ran to the house.

Everyone looked from Fred to Molly, who was now looking pale and faint. They were all dumbstruck. All of a sudden George took out after Fred.

No one noticed that Molly had sat down on the ground until they turned back around. They crouched and knelt around her.

"Are you okay, Mum?" asked Ginny.

"Yes. I-I'm fine," Molly replied weakly. "You all heard that, before the funeral?"

Everyone hesitated before nodding.

"You know he didn't mean any of that. You know that's not true, right?" Bill asked quietly.

Molly didn't say anything. She sat staring at the house.

Charlie broke the silence, "Mum, you _know_ that isn't true."

Molly shifted her gaze and stared at the ground to avoid making eye contact with any of her children.

"Mum?" Ron said reproachfully, "You don't think that, do you?"

Still staring at the ground, Molly slowly shook her head and said, "No, no, of course not. That's codswallop to think that."

No one believed what their mother said. They could tell at least some part of her thought the death of her husband was because of Fred. They could tell she knew that too.

They helped their mother off the ground and into a chair. Harry and Hermione were the first to head back to the house, then Percy and Charlie, and, shortly after, Ron and Ginny. It was just Bill and Molly left at the graveside.

"You can go inside if you want, Bill."

"Will you be alright, Mum?"

"I'll be fine. I just want to be alone for a bit."

With that, Bill kissed his mother on the cheek and made his way to the house.

Molly sat in silence staring at the headstone for what seemed like an hour. She couldn't cry anymore. She was exhausted. Finally, she stood up and made her way back to the house.


	4. Closure

A/N: Okay so here's the next chapter. This is the longest chapter so far, but I think y'all will like it. I was debating on writing one about Fred and George and had decided not to until Chibi-Twan suggested it. Now, sorry if Gideon isn't George's middle name but that's all I could find on that. Well, here y'all are. Enjoy and please keep reviewing and suggesting!

ooOoo

George glanced over his shoulder to see the condition of his family as he ran toward the house. Molly had sat down and everyone else was crouched around her. When he looked ahead again, the back door had slammed shut.

George entered the house a few seconds later. He didn't see Fred anywhere. George ran up the stairs to his and Fred's old bedroom, but to no avail. Fred wasn't there.

He ran back downstairs. Maybe Fred fllooed back to their flat in Diagon Alley.

At the flat, George searched every room of the flat and their joke shop - still no Fred.

There was only one other place Fred could be - Grimmauld Place. George reached Grimmauld Place and still couldn't find Fred. He was getting worried. Where could his brother have gone?

ooOoo

George returned to the Burrow after searching for an hour. He couldn't think of anywhere else his twin could've or would've gone.

As he walked through the garden back to the house, George noticed his mother was still at the grave, but no one else was with her. At least he wouldn't have to tell her that he couldn't find Fred for a few more minutes. Maybe if he snuck in and no one heard him, he wouldn't have to tell anyone else yet either.

He walked into the house and quietly closed the door behind him. He froze when he turned around. Everyone was staring at him expectantly. George slowly shook his head.

"I looked everywhere I could think of - our bedroom here, Grimmauld Place, our flat, even the Leaky Cauldron. I can't find him. He hasn't shown back up here, has he?" George walked in and sat down on the couch.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Did you look in the orchard?" Ron asked.

"No. I saw him come into the house, so I doubt he'd be there."

"What about D–Dad's shed?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I really don't think he'd be in there." It wasn't George who spoke this time. It was Bill. "I don't think anyone's ready to go in there yet."

Ginny stared at her knees and nodded her head.

"Hey, where's Perce? He didn't run off too, did he?" George asked as he looked around and noticed that his older brother was missing.

"No, he went to his room. He wanted to be alone," Harry responded.

"Oh, okay. I – um – I saw that Mum's still outside," George said quietly, "Has she – er – not come in yet?"

"No," answered Bill, "She sent me in about forty-five minutes ago. She wanted to be by herself for a bit."

"Oh. Well, is she okay? She looked like she was going to pass out earlier."

"Yeah. She's feeling better, but, honestly, I don't think anyone is okay right now."

"You know, he might be on the roof." Charlie finally chimed in.

"Huh?" Bill and George said together.

"Fred. He might've gone on the roof."

"You really think so?" asked Hermione.

"That's where Percy and I went to be alone."

"Alright. I'll go check." George stood and started making his way up the stairs. When he reached the top, he cracked open the door and quietly stuck his head out to look. But who George saw wasn't Fred, but Percy. He thought for a moment about going to his older brother, but decided against it since he clearly wanted to be alone. He walked back downstairs.

"Is he up there?" Charlie asked as soon as George reentered the living room.

"No." George said as he walked to the back door.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked.

"To look in a few more places."

"Here, let me come with you." Bill suggested.

"No. I don't want Mum to worry that I couldn't find Fred and if anyone else leaves, she'll know something's wrong. So, just act like everything's okay."

"Okay," everyone said at once.

George turned around and left the house again, his face toward the ground.

On his way to the disapparition point, he bumped into something. Startled, he looked up.

"What's wrong, George?" It was Molly. She could see the panic in her son's eyes and tell something was wrong. Though she didn't realize the panic was due to him having to tell her the truth than actually not being able to find Fred. "Is Fred alright?"

George stared at his mother, unable to say anything. He didn't know what to tell her. He could tell she had been crying. She had been crying a lot over the past few days. He didn't want to give his mother another reason to be upset.

"George, tell me what's wrong this instant." Her tone changed from gentle to firm when George hadn't answered her in a couple minutes.

"N-Nothing. Everything's fine."

"Do not lie to me. George Gideon Weasley."

"Alright, alright," said George throwing his hands up in surrender. "Okay, Mum, I don't want you to freak out or get upset, but Fred's gone and I can't find him anywhere. I looked for an hour and I was just leaving to look in some other places."

To George's surprise, Molly didn't seem upset. She asked him where he had already looked and he told her.

"So, you didn't look in Hogsmeade or around Hogwarts?"

""I looked in the Three Broomsticks."

"But not in the Hogshead or anywhere around Hogwarts?"

"No. I didn't think he would be there."

"Well, he wasn't anywhere you thought he would be, was he? So he may have gone to one of those places."

"No – but – I mean – he wouldn't,.." George stammered and was quickly interrupted by his mother.

"George, no matter how strongly you believe Fred wouldn't have gone to one of those places, I want you to check. Please. And let me know when you've found him.""

"Yes, Mum." George made to leave when Molly seized his arm.

"And, George, as much as we don't want to think about it, Fred may have gone back to that – that corridor." Molly said quietly as her eyes became unusually bright.

George swallowed hard and nodded. A few seconds later, Molly was standing in the garden by herself trying to regain her composure before entering the house.

ooOoo

The first place George apparated to was Hogsmeade. He searched every store and pub, even the one's he thought least likely Fred would go to. After searching every building in Hogsmeade, he decided to look for Fred around Hogwarts.

He went to the first place he thought George would have gone – the burned down Quidditch pitch. Fred wasn't there.

Next, George went to Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't there.

Then he went to Hagrid's hut. Luckily, neither Fred nor Hagrid was there either. He didn't feel like talking to anyone he didn't have to.

Now George was looking anywhere while avoiding that corridor, trying to postpone the inevitable.

Finally, there was nowhere else to look. George had to return to the corridor which had changed his life forever.

He slowly made his way to the corridor in which his father had been killed. On his way to the corridor, he noticed that this part of the castle had not been cleaned up yet.

George peeked around the corner and saw Fred sitting in a windowsill. Remembering what his mother had told him, he turned around quietly and sent his Patronus to let her know he had found Fred. He did not tell her where. He didn't want her to get more upset.

He took a deep breath and walked around the corner. He had only seen Fred sitting in the windowsill when he had peeked around the corner. Now he saw the whole scene – Fred was sitting in the windowsill and staring at the pile of rubble that had fallen on their father, the spot where Arthur had been crushed was covered in dried blood – their father's blood. A lump formed in his throat as the horrid memory flashed through his mind.

George tried to move forward, but his feet would not move. He clenched his jaw and started blinking fast. He couldn't do this. It was too hard Why would Fred choose to come here of all places? An involuntary sob slipped out of his throat.

Fred was startled to hear any noise He looked up immediately. He hadn't expected anyone to find him here, especially one of his siblings.

Over the next few minutes, Fred stared at George who stared at the pile of rubble and the big blood stain.

"George?" Fred finally said.

George looked up to meet his brother's eyes and he could tell Fred's eyes were red and puffy. Tears began streaking down his own face when he was finally able to choke, "W-Why would you come here?"

Fred shrugged and looked back at the pile of rubble. "Honestly, I don't know."

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?'

"I just don't. I didn't plan on coming here."

"Okay, well, how _did_ you get here? Where did you go before here?"

"Well, you know, I ran into the house and straight back out the front door. I disapparated from the front yard into Hogsmeade. I wandered around there for a while and finally settled in the Hog's Head." Fred explained.

George interrupted, "Why the Hog's Head? Why not the Three Broomsticks?"

"I didn't want to run into anybody we know." Then Fred continued. "Anyway, after sitting there for a while, I started walking around Hogwarts. Even though I didn't want to come here, something just, kind of, pulled me here. I've only been here a few minutes. And it's painful to be here."

Fred paused.

"It just isn't as bad as I thought it would be to see, well, this," he added in a whisper, gesturing toward the rubble.

"But how? I can't stand to be here, It's too hard." said George.

"I've been thinking the same thing. Maybe – maybe it's given me some closure. I know it sounds crazy," he hastened to add as George gave him a questioning look. "I feel like he… Well nevermind."

"No. Like he what, Fred?"

"It's stupid."

George walked over to Fred and put his arm around him. "Nothing can be stupid right now."

"Well, maybe – I mean – I feel like Dad wanted me to come back here for some reason. But, like I said, it's stupid." He turned his face away from George and clenched his jaw.

"Fred, look at me." Fred turned back and looked George in the eyes. Seeing Fred's eyes full of tears made his own fill again. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Dad wanted you to realize it wasn't your fault. He would've risked his own life to save _any_ of ours. He is - was our father, it was his job to protect us."

By this time tears were streaming down both their faces. Fred nodded and swallowed hard. "Okay, you're right. I'm ready to go back now."

Both brothers took one last look at the rubble before heading to Hogsmeade to apparate back to the Burrow.


End file.
